Carlisle stepped forward, calm as ever despite the suffocating tension that settled over the clearing.
"Jane. Alec. Demetri. Felix," he said warmly, inclining his head in greeting. "It's been a long time. To what do we owe the honor of your visit?"
Jane's pale fingers rose to her hood, pushing it back. Her face was revealed; angelic and flawless, like a porcelain doll carved by a master's hand. She looked no older than twelve or thirteen, her small frame almost delicate beneath the heavy black cloak. Too young. Dangerously close to the line that defined an immortal child.
"Carlisle," she greeted sweetly.
Her crimson eyes drifted past him, sweeping the clearing. Charred earth. Broken trees. The still-burning pyre smoldering at the center, smoke curling lazily into the sky.
"We received reports of a newborn army in this region," Jane said lightly. "We came to investigate… and eliminate it, if necessary."
Her lips curved faintly.
"But it seems you've already taken care of the problem for us."
A sharp scoff cut through the air.
Jane's gaze flicked briefly toward Rosalie, who stood with her arms crossed, golden eyes blazing with barely restrained contempt. Jane lingered on her for only a second before dismissing her entirely, attention shifting once more to those gathered.
Her eyes moved slowly, too slowly, assessing every face.
Then they stopped on Bree for a moment too long.
Jane's expression sharpened, her lips parting as if to speak, but then her head tilted slightly, attention pulled elsewhere. Her gaze slid past the vampires, locking onto a figure standing farther back.
Leah.
Jane raised one delicate brow.
"How curious," she murmured. "What is a human doing here?"
She inhaled softly, nostrils flaring. Almost immediately, her nose wrinkled in distaste.
"No," she corrected herself. "That scent… wet dog. Very similar to the Children of the Moon."
Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
"But different. What are you?"
Carlisle opened his mouth to answer, but Leah stepped forward before he could speak.
"I'm a spirit warrior," she said flatly. "I can transform into a wolf at will."
Jane blinked once.
"I see," she said, genuine interest flickering in her eyes. "That is… new."
She turned her attention back to Carlisle, her tone cool and measured.
"And when, exactly, were you planning to inform us of her existence?"
Jane clasped her hands behind her back. "The Kings will be very interested in learning about this new species. They will, of course, decide what her fate should be."
Leah's eyes hardened.
"And who the fuck are you to decide anything for me?"
Carlisle moved quickly, placing himself slightly between them.
"There was no intent to withhold information," he said calmly. "There are very few of them, and they keep strictly to their territory. Unlike the Children of the Moon, they possess full control. They pose no threat."
Jane's smile faded just a fraction.
"That," she said coolly, "is for the Kings to decide."
Her gaze flicked back to Leah.
"She will come with us."
"I don't believe that's necessary," Carlisle replied at once. "I can vouch for her."
The tension in the clearing spiked sharply. Even the wind seemed to still.
"This is escalating unnecessarily," Carlisle added, though his voice remained gentle.
Leah, however, had reached her limit.
"Yeah, not a chance," she snapped. "I'm not going anywhere with you, Goldilocks. So take your three bears and fuck off back to wherever you crawled out from."
She gestured vaguely toward the destruction around them.
"We already cleaned up the newborn army for you. Which, last I checked, was your job. You're welcome by the way."
For a heartbeat, no one moved.
Then Jane's eyes narrowed, and her lips curved upward into a slow, pleased smile; one that sent an instinctive chill through everyone watching.
As if she'd been waiting exactly for this.
She looked to Carlisle, voice almost indulgent.
"It seems," Jane said, "that you haven't taught your dog any manners. So allow me to do it for you."
Carlisle's eyes widened.
"Jane, wait, please, don't…"
Too late.
Jane's gaze snapped back to Leah, crimson eyes burning with focus.
Leah collapsed instantly.
A scream tore from her throat as she hit the ground, body arching violently. Her muscles seized, limbs jerking uncontrollably as if her nerves were being lit on fire from the inside out. The pain was total; overwhelming, inescapable, ripping through her without mercy.
This was Jane's gift.
Pain, delivered with nothing more than a look.
Which is what made her one of the Volturi's most feared weapons.
Leah's cries echoed through the clearing as her body spasmed in the dirt, and Carlisle could only watch in horror as the situation finally, catastrophically, slipped beyond his control.
…
Tanya moved as if she were about to interfere, her body tensing, but Irina's hand shot out and caught her arm in a grip like iron. The same thing happened with Emmett. He leaned forward, muscles bunching, only for Rosalie to clamp onto him without looking away from the scene unfolding. Several others reacted the same way, instincts screaming at them to act, but all of them froze at once.
Every head snapped to the left.
Emmett's lips curled into a slow, satisfied smirk. "You're fucked."
Alec, Felix, and Demetri followed his gaze. The moment they saw it, their confidence shattered. A massive white wolf burst from the trees, a blur of pale fur and muscle, moving so fast it looked like it was flying just above the ground. Dirt exploded beneath its paws as it hurtled straight toward Jane.
Felix and Demetri reacted first, lunging forward to intercept, while Alec's eyes flicked toward the wolf and his power lashed out.
The world went dark, silent, empty.
Mike lost everything at once. No sight. No sound. No sensation. His body became a hollow shell, cut off from itself. But he did not slow. He ran on memory alone, on instinct sharpened by rage and countless hours spent moving at impossible speeds.
Felix barely had time to brace before Mike's paw slammed into him. The impact sent him flying, his body hurtling backward like a discarded doll. Mike spun instantly, jaws snapping shut where Demetri had been a heartbeat earlier.
But he misjudged.
Instead of crushing Demetri's skull, his teeth closed around flesh and bone at the shoulder. There was a violent wrench, a sickening tear, and Demetri's right arm came free in Mike's jaws.
Still blind, still numb, Mike surged forward again, locked onto a single point in his mind.
Jane.
She was the one who had hurt Leah.
Nothing else mattered.
There was no plan, no caution left. Only fury. Only the need to destroy the small, fragile figure standing so calmly at the center of the chaos.
That recklessness was his mistake.
Felix recovered faster than expected. He struck from the side, his kick slamming into Mike's jaw with enough force to snap the wolf's head sideways and throw him off balance just as he was about to reach Jane.
Jane released Leah at once, her attention snapping fully onto the enormous white wolf instead. Her red eyes narrowed in focus.
Alec felt the shift and dropped his power.
Mike's senses came crashing back all at once.
The pain followed instantly.
It tore through him like fire, flooding every nerve, every muscle, every bone. It was overwhelming, absolute, as if his body were being burned alive from the inside. Mike growled, the sound raw and furious, and tried to force himself forward anyway.
But his body betrayed him.
His muscles locked and spasmed violently, jerking out of his control. His limbs buckled beneath him as agony wracked his massive frame, leaving him twitching and snarling against the ground, helpless despite his strength.
…
(I tried writing in third person's POV, what do you think? I was thinking about using third person from time to time. Support with power stones or comments 🐢 🎶)